Assam government receives Clause 6 report

The committee set up to recommend norms in Clause 6 of the Assam Accord submitted its report to state chief secretary Sanjay Krishna on Wednesday after failing to receive an appointment from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). MHA officials said there was no consensus on some recommendations.

AASU reiterates that Clause 6 was incorporated in the Assam Accord as a means of protecting the indigenous culture as Assam took “extra load of foreign migrants” from 1951 to 1971.

Guwahati | New Delhi: The committee set up to recommend norms in Clause 6 of the Assam Accord submitted its report to state chief secretary Sanjay Krishna on Wednesday after failing to receive an appointment from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). Some members opposed submission of report to the state government.

Panel chairman BK Sharma, former judge of the Gauhati High Court, told journalists in Guwahati: “We had written three letters to the MHA stating that the report was ready and requested to let us know when it would like to receive it. We have done our work and the report is available with Assam Accord implementation department.” MHA had reconstituted the panel last year, making joint secretary Satyendra Garg as its member secretary.

MHA officials said there was no consensus on some recommendations. “The state government will be responsible for implementing the suggestions. It will examine the report and forward it with comments to MHA,” the official who did not wish to be named told ET. MHA officials expressed reservations, among others, on the recommendation to bring the entire state under the Inner Line Permit.

Panel members alleged that MHA did not give them an appointment to submit the report. Committee member Samujjal Bhattacharya, chief advisor of All Assam Students Union, told ET: “The 14-member committee the Centre had constituted to suggest ways to implement Clause 6 completed work on February 10 and sent three letters to the MHA.” Another panel member said “committee members made several attempts to get an appointment with MHA to submit the report but despite camping in New Delhi, they were not given an appointment.”

Panel member and AASU general secretary Lurinjyoti Gogoi said: “MHA did not give appointment despite repeated attempts. BJP-led government at the Centre and the state had promised that the recommendations will be implemented as soon they receive them. However, the government is unable to find time to even accept the report now.”

Aasu reiterated that Clause 6 was incorporated in the Assam Accord as a means of protecting the indigenous culture as Assam took “extra load of foreign migrants” from 1951 to 1971. The 1985 Assam Accord states that foreigners who arrived in the state after March 24, 1971, would be deported irrespective of their religious affiliation.